Jan. 30, 2026
Important Knowledge in the Pure Land Teaching
淨土小常識
174 - The Classification of Cause and Effect (1/11)
I. Worldly Cause and Effect and Transcendent Cause and Effect
Cause and effect can be classified in many ways, because different perspectives lead to different classifications. From the perspective of Buddhist practice, there are worldly causes and effects and transcendent (supramundane) causes and effects.
Worldly causes and effects refer to matters in ordinary daily life. Transcendent causes and effects refer to a person’s aspiration to end birth and death, to transcend the Six Realms, or to attain Buddhahood. It concerns practices directed specifically toward liberation.
If attaining Buddhahood is the result. What then, is the cause? The Bodhi mind is the cause and Buddhahood is the result. Even the practice of exclusively reciting Namo Amitabha Buddha cannot be separated from the Bodhi mind. This is because the exclusive recitation of Namo Amitabha Buddha already contains the Bodhi mind and is why it leads to Buddhahood.
The Three Learnings and the Six Paramitas all fall within the scope of cause and effect. If we take generosity as the cause—what is its result?
174 因果的分類
一、世間因果與出世間因果
因果有很多種類，這是因為角度不同。如果從修持佛法的角度來分，有世間因果和出世間因果。世間因果，無非就是日常生活等；出世間因果，就是一個人要了生脫死，要出六道或者要成佛，要去修行，就專一講修行。
成佛是果報，什麼是成佛的因？菩提心為因，成佛為果，即便是念佛，也離不開菩提心，是因為念佛本身具足了菩提心，才成佛的。
三學六度都是因果的內容，布施為因，什麼為果？
Namo Amituofo!
